


Caves

by betsib



Series: Tumblr prompts [3]
Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Also ogres, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-19
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-13 02:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1208647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betsib/pseuds/betsib
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Hurt comfort and fluff where Jason actually heals Nico and Nico is crying and in pain and gentle Jason helps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Caves

**Author's Note:**

> I may have strayed from the original prompt a little bit to not write _To find where I belong_ all over again.

“We’re trapped! Oh, gods, we’re trapped!”

The two young demigods seemed to be on the verge of panic. Jason took a deep breath. Of the three of them, Jason was the only one who actually was at a disadvantage underground, but he was supposed to be the adult here. 

“Calm down, we’ll find a way out,” Jason said reassuringly. “Now, did either of you see what happened to Cynthia?”

“No, we lost her when the ogres attacked,” Colin said, almost sobbing. “You don’t think she’s…”

“We have no way of knowing until we find her,” Jason said honestly. “In the meantime I need you two to remain calm, and help me find a way out of here.”

“That door was the only way,” Lotte said gloomily. “There are stone walls all around us, and the ogres will break through eventually. We’re going to die here. Like Cynthia.”

“First off, we don’t know if Cynthia is dead,” Jason said sternly. “Secondly, I will not allow you to die on my watch. Even if the ogres break through, the path is too narrow for them to surround us. We can pick them off one by one.”

“We’ve lost our swords,” Colin said, actually sobbing now. The thirteen year old son of Hephaestus wasn’t exactly quest material yet. Lotte, daughter of Hypnos, also thirteen, was holding up a bit better, but only because she seemed to have embraced the possibility of eternal sleep. The only one Jason had seen potential in was the twelve year old daughter of Hermes, who was missing.

The three kids had been sent on what was supposed to be an easy quest from Camp Half-Blood a few days earlier. Jason was supposed to meet them at the halfway point to check up on them. He arrived to find himself knee deep in ogres. Apparently the young demigods had stumbled upon an underground legion of monsters, and decided to investigate without informing anyone. Jason hadn’t had time to send a message himself, either.

“We should call for help,” Jason said. “Maybe we can hold them off until we get reinforcements.”

“It’ll take them at least three hours to get here,” Lotte pointed out with her usual depressed tone as Colin sobbed loudly. “You might be able to hold out that long, but we can’t. I just want to go to sleep.”

Jason sighed. He was tempted to start a rant beginning “When I was your age”, but decided against it. It would have made him seem old, and he wasn’t _that_ much older than these two. Besides, now really wasn’t the time. Lotte had a point. There were no reinforcement that could reach them fast enough.

Except one.

It was kind of a long shot, but Jason was determined to try. He used the light from his torch and the water from his mostly empty bottle to make an improvised rainbow. It was barely visible, but he hoped Iris would cut him some slack under the circumstances.

“Nico di Angelo, wherever he is,” Jason said.

Despite his intentions to do otherwise, Nico had actually stayed in touch after the war was over, partly thanks to Jason making him promise to do so. He only ever called Hazel, but he did occasionally answer if Jason or any of the others called him. He was never around, though. Jason wasn’t sure what he was doing.

The banging on the door got louder as Nico suddenly became visible in the mist. He seemed to be outside somewhere, under the open sky. Jason envied him.

“Nico! Thank the gods, you answered,” Jason sighed in relief. “I need your help.”

Nico raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”

“Look, I’m trapped underground. I have two young, inexperienced demigods with me and I’ve lost the third one, and there are a legion of ogres trying to kill us,” Jason explained hastily. Nico nodded, and the connection broke.

“Nico!” Jason yelled, just about to start cursing when he heard a voice behind him.

“No need to shout,” Nico said, stepping out of the shadows and causing both Colin and Lotte to yelp in surprise. “I figured I’d just come here, since it sounded urgent.”

“Thanks for coming, Nico,” Jason smiled. “I need to you to get these two out of here, preferably to Camp Half-Blood if you can manage it.”

“I can handle it,” Nico frowned. “But what about you?”

“Cynthia is still lost somewhere around here,” Jason said. “I can’t leave without her. Unless she’s already dead.”

“What was her full name?” Nico asked.

“Cynthia Philips, daughter of Hermes,” Jason said, and Nico closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again he shook his head.

“I can’t say for sure, since I didn’t know her, but I don’t think she’s dead,” he said. “But you will be, if you say behind to fight all of them alone.”

“What do you propose then?” Jason asked.

“I propose I get you into another hole in this maze of cave, then drop the kids off at camp and come back to help you.”

“We’re not kids,” Colin said, still sniffing, though he wasn’t crying anymore.

“Agreed,” Jason told Nico, ignoring the input. “But drop the kids off first. I don’t want to leave them alone in here for even a moment.”

Nico hesitated for a second, then nodded. “Fine. I’ll be right back,” he said, then reached out for the two kids. “Hold my hands and don’t let go.”

Both of them looked a little unsure, and waited for Jason to nod in conformation before grabbing Nico’s hands. He took them with him into the shadows, and they were gone. As Jason breathed out in relief, the door broke down and ogres started swarming in. Jason smiled bitterly as he raised his sword. At least the young ones were safe now. 

He had been right. The doorway was too narrow for the ogres to surround him, but there were plenty of them, and he found it impossible to advance without exposing his back. Instead they kept forcing him backwards, until the wall was right behind him. Jason gritted this teeth as he ducked an ogre’s club and slashed at its feet. He was going to die here, but he wasn’t going down without a fight.

“Jason!” someone yelled over the grunting of the ogres and Jason suddenly had two skeletons fighting beside him. He caught a sight of black behind the ogres but there was no way to get to Nico without cutting them down first. The skeletons helped, but one hit from an ogre’s club crushed them. Others took their place, and quickly met the same fate. Jason kept pressing on, ducking, slashing and retreating. He wished the ogres would leave bodies. That would have made it harder for the new ones to get to him. He lost sight of Nico in the chaos, but the ever reforming skeletons told him the son of Hades was still nearby.

A sudden scream filled the air, and Jason’s blood went cold.

“Nico!” he yelled, desperately slashing through the ogres and making his way in the direction of the screams. He even managed to take flight to increase his speed, despite being underground. When he finally saw Nico, the son of Hades was on the ground, bleeding from a deep wound on his leg. He was holding his sword in his left hand, looking barely conscious. His right arm hung slack at his side. An enormous ogre was standing before him, just about to deliver a blow that would undoubtedly smash his head in. Jason cut his head off before that could happen. He landed in front of Nico, to protect him from the seemingly never-ending onslaught.

Before any further attack came, Nico grabbed his ankle and dragged him backwards into the shadows. When Jason regained his balance the ogres were gone. They were in a different cave, apparently not very far away, judging by the muffled sounds of the outraged ogre’s yelling at each other for letting them get away.

Jason turned around to look at his companion, and found that Nico was laying on the ground, faintly whimpering and breathing heavily. Jason quickly kneeled down beside him, assessing the damage. His leg was still bleeding a lot, so binding the wound was the first thing Jason did, ripping his own shirt to shreds for bandage. Nico’s right arm was still slack, and Nico winced when Jason touched it. Jason carefully removed Nico’s aviator’s jacket to get a better look at it. The arm was bruised and probably broken, but the worst part was that the joint at his shoulder looked out of shape.

“Nico,” Jason said gently. “Your shoulder is out of joint. I’ll need to correct it before I can give you any ambrosia, or it won’t heal properly.”

“I’ll scream,” Nico said, looking up at him. It wasn’t a threat, it was a warning. Jason nodded, taking some of the scraps left of his shirt and twirling them together.

“Bite down on this, okay?” Jason said, handing Nico the twirled piece of fabric. “I’ll try to be quick.”

Nico looked pale as he took the fabric and put it in his mouth. Jason grabbed a steady hold of him and took a deep breath. He knew from experience that this _really_ hurt. Nico might even pass out. That might be for the better.

“Okay, on three,” Jason said for Nico’s benefit. “One, two..three!” Nico made a loud guttural noise as his shoulder popped back into place. It wasn’t nearly as loud as a scream would have been, so Jason doubted anyone had heard unless they were standing nearby.

Nico didn’t faint. When Jason gently helped him sit up again there were tears streaming down his face, and he whimpered at every move. There were just enough fabric left of Jason’s shirt to create a makeshift sling for his broken arm. Nico seemed to be struggling to stop crying.

“I’m sorry. We still have a job to do and I…” Nico sobbed. Jason shook his head.

“Don’t be sorry. You saved my life,” Jason said, sitting down beside him and carefully pulling him closer to lean on him. “And nobody thinks any less of you for being in pain. Here, this will help.”

He fed Nico the emergency ration of ambrosia he was always carrying. Jason wasn’t sure if it was enough to dull the pain, but at least it kickstarted the healing process. Nico rested his head on Jason’s shoulder, tears silently falling down his face. Jason wished he could make Nico stop hurting, but at the moment he couldn’t even put an arm around him without risking inflicting even more pain. He did place a hand on Nico’s head, though, gently stroking him in a way he hoped was comforting.

A while later Nico looked up and dried the tears from his eyes with his healthy hand. He frowned.

“The ambrosia helped. I think I can sense her now,” he said, his voice rough. “She’s nearby.”

“Cynthia?” Jason asked, then felt a bit stupid. Who else would Nico be talking about? “Where is she?”

“Some dozen meters to the left. I can’t say exactly,” Nico said. “But it’s the only human life force around here. You have to get to her.”

“I’m not leaving you here alone,” Jason said. “You’re basically defenseless if they find you.”

“I’d slow you down,” Nico said stubbornly, but Jason ignored him and leaned down to pick him up, bridal style. The boy barely weighed anything. Jason frowned. He needed to eat more.

“Put me down!” Nico demanded, wincing at the pain his struggling caused him.

“I will once we find Cynthia,” Jason said determinedly. “Tell me where to go.”

Nico looked like he was going to argue, then sighed. “Fine. Follow this tunnel out and turn left. And try to be quiet.”

Jason did as Nico instructed, making his way through the tunnels, occasionally floating in order to be silent when Nico said ogres were nearby. It took a lot of energy to do that underground, though.

At long last they reached another tunnel, and followed it to some sort of storage space at the end. Nico said this was it, and Jason reluctantly put him down. He looked around, but there was no sign of the girl anywhere.

“Cynthia?” Jason asked out loud. “Are you here? It’s Jason.”

At first there were no answer, then a low rustling could be heard behind the boxes, and two eyes became visible. “Jason?” a quiet voice said, then Cynthia jumped out, smiling happily as she threw her arms around Jason. “Thank the gods! I thought I’d have to make it out of here alone. Where are Colin and Lotte?”

“They’re safe, back at Camp Half-Blood,” Jason smiled, relieved to see the girl unhurt. “This is Nico di Angelo.” He gestured towards Nico, who offered her a pale nod, but didn’t more apart from that.

Cynthia looked behind him. “I know, he’s a legend around camp,” she said. “What happened to him?”

“Ogres. We were surrounded,” he said, walking back towards Nico and sitting down beside him. “I don’t suppose you can take us back?”

“Sorry,” Nico said. “I’m exhausted, and I’m not sure I’d be able to concentrate enough for a long jump right now anyway. We might end up in China.”

“It’s okay, we’re pretty safe here for now,” Jason said gently. “Go to sleep if you can.”

“I told the other kids to send backup when I dropped them off,” Nico said, leaning his head back down on Jason’s shoulder. “They should be here soon.”

“Good. Then we wait,” Jason said. Cynthia dropped down on Jason’s other side.

“Can I go to sleep as well?” she asked, yawning. “I’ve been terrified and hiding for hours.”

“Go ahead. I’ll keep watch,” Jason smiled. “You were very brave.”

She laughed as lay down on the floor beside him, resting her head in Jason’s lap. “I’m a daughter of Hermes. Hiding is what I do best.”

Soon both Nico and Cynthia were fast asleep, and Jason had to force himself to keep his own eyes open. Nico was invitingly warm against his side, and Cynthia was snoring softly. All Jason really wanted to do was fall asleep right there, but he had agreed to keep watch, and he would keep his word.

Fortunately it was barely an hour later that he could hear commotion from above, muffled screams and weapons clashing. Jason gently shook Cynthia awake, but Nico woke up on his own as the sounds got louder.

“It seems like backup has arrived,” Jason said, getting up. “We should join them.”

Nico protested against being carried out like a damsel in distress, but Jason was having none of it. He pointed out that it would cause the least strain on his injuries, and there was no sense in risking reopening the wound on his leg if he tried to walk. In the end Nico gave in. Cynthia looked at them like she was trying not to laugh. Jason was glad she didn’t. It would only have made things worse.

By the time they got out of the tunnel most of the ogres had already been defeated. The ones who were left were trying to run away, and Jason ignored them as he walked towards the surface with Cynthia on his side and Nico in his arms, quietly giving him directions on how to navigate the underground. As they got closer to the surface they were met by a few campers. Most of them seemed to be from the Ares cabin, but there was a familiar face among them as well.

“Jason! You’re alive!” Percy said as he approached them. “What happened to Nico?”

“Injured,” Jason said shortly. “I need to get him back to camp.”

“There are some pegasi waiting on the surface,” Percy said, but Nico snorted.

“They don’t like me very much. Good luck convincing them to take me.”

“We’ll go on Tempest,” Jason told him, then turned back to Percy. “Think you can take care of Cynthia for me?”

“No problem. We’ll be clearing out soon anyway,” Percy nodded, and Jason left the girl with him and walked up to the surface. The night air was cold against his bare skin, but the fresh air and strong wind reinvigorated him. He took a moment to just breath, happy to be out of the underground.

“Are we getting out of here or not?” Nico asked, rolling his eyes. Jason laughed and proceeded to summon Tempest, who didn’t mind carrying the son of Hades across the sky. Nico sat in front of him, looking scared through the whole flight despite Jason reassuring him that there was no danger.

“Easy for you to say,” Nico muttered, his voice strained. “You can _fly_. If I fall off I’ll be crushed.”

“Relax, I won’t let you fall,” Jason said gently into Nico’s ear, tightening his grip around Nico’s waist. “You’re safe, I promise.”

Nico mumbles something inaudible as a response.

They reached camp about an hour later. Jason dropped Nico off for treatment in the Apollo cabin, and went off to report to Chiron. The centaur was happy to hear they were all safe.

“It’s thanks to Nico,” Jason shrugged. ”We would never have made it out alive without him.”

Chiron nodded. “I’m glad he’s back at camp, even if it’s only to treat his injuries. He’s earned his place amongst us.”

“Time and time again,” Jason agreed. “I’ll try to convince him to stick around.”

The Apollo cabin had finished with Nico and helped him back to his cabin by the time Jason left the Big House. Apparently there hadn’t been much for them to do, save clean the wounds, give him so actual bandages and a better sling, as well as more ambrosia. Jason didn’t like the thought of Nico being in pain and alone, so after showering and changing his clothes he knocked on the door to the Hades cabin, waited for a moment to hear Nico shout at him to come in, and then entered.

Nico was sitting up in bed, resting his back against the wall. He gave Jason a brief smile when he saw him.

“Hey. How’re you feeling?” Jason asked, walking over to him and sitting down on the bed.

“Better. It hurts less now,” Nico said. “Thanks for patching me up earlier, by the way. I never said.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks for saving my life,” Jason smiled. “Really. I didn’t expect you to answer the IM. You’ve been out of touch lately.”

“I’ve been in and out of the Underworld a lot,” Nico said. “It’s been a madhouse down there after the war. I think my father would have preferred if I stayed there permanently. I had planned to do that, remember?”

Jason did. They had spent a good chunk of the victory party after Gaea’s defeat arguing about it, away from all the others. Nico had broken down in the end. Really broken down. Jason had spent the rest of the evening in the privacy of the Zeus cabin with Nico crying in his arms. They had fallen asleep like that in the end. It shouldn’t have been a good memory, but it was.

“I remember,” Jason said. “I’m glad you came back.”

“I promised to, didn’t I?” Nico scowled. “Besides, I doubt I could have actually just left Hazel like that. I probably wouldn’t have been able you stay away for long anyway.”

“You could just stay here, you know,” Jason said. “You’re a war hero, twice over. Cynthia even called you a legend. You’d be welcomed with open arms.”

“I doubt that,” Nico snorted.

“Well, _my_ arms would be open, at least,” Jason said, and Nico laughed at him, genuinely amused.

“Well, that settles it. I’ll move in immediately,” he joked, smiling tiredly. “I think I need to try and sleep now.”

“Goodnight, then. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jason said getting up from the bed. He caught a strange look flicker over Nico’s face for a minute, looking almost like disappointment, but it was gone in an instant.

“Goodnight,” Nico said, giving him a smile that didn’t feel completely honest. Jason hesitated.

“Do you want me to stay?” he asked, watching as Nico’s eyes turned wide.

“Like I said, I need sleep,” Nico muttered, slightly flustered.

“That’s not an answer, Nico,” Jason said gently. “If you want me to stay, just say so. I don’t mind.”

“I think your girlfriend would miss you,” Nico said, and it took Jason a couple of seconds to realize what he was talking about.

“Piper and I broke up over two months ago,” Jason laughed. “You’re really out of the loop.”

“Really? Why?” Nico asked, confused, and Jason shrugged.

“We didn’t really like each other that way anymore. Juno was the one to pair us together in the first place, you know. It makes sense it didn’t work,” Jason said. “Also, there was somebody else.”

“For her of for you?” Nico asked, and now they were getting a bit too close to the subject Jason didn’t want to talk about. But maybe it was time to come clean about it. After all the times Jason had told Nico to “just tell Percy”, he’d really be a hypocrite if he didn’t say anything. He just hoped Nico wouldn’t freak out.

“For me. There’s someone I really like,” Jason said, a bit unsure how to approach this.

“Oh,” Nico said, and that flicker of disappointment danced over his face again. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on Jason’s part. “Why aren’t you with her, then? If you don’t have a girlfriend.”

“It’s not a girl,” Jason said. “And I haven’t told him yet.”

“What?” Nico said, frozen. “Who?”

His stunned expression might have been comical, if there hadn’t been so much hurt in his eyes. Jason took a deep breath.

“He’s sitting right in front of me.”

Nico stared at him in silence for what felt like an eternity. Jason held his gaze, feeling increasingly more unsure and uncomfortable.

“You’re serious,” Nico finally said, sounding out of breath. It wasn’t a question, exactly, but it still felt like Jason needed to confirm it. He nodded.

“Yes, I’m serious,” Jason said. “I like you.”

Nico was quiet for a long moment. “Am I dreaming?”

“No, this is real,” Jason smiled. “Why? Do you usually dream things like this?”

“Sometimes,” Nico said, still studying him. “Though you’d either get killed or tell me it was a joke in a second or so. Sometimes both.”

“It’s not a joke, and I’m not going to die,” Jason said. “Not tonight, anyway.”

“I believe you,” Nico said gesturing for him to sit down again. Jason did so without hesitation.

“I’m not expecting anything,” Jason said. “I just thought you should know. Do you still want me to stay?”

Nico frowned at him. “What do you mean you don’t expect anything?”

“You still like Percy, right?” Jason said, and was surprised to hear Nico laugh.

“And you say _I’m_ out of the loop,” Nico said, shaking his head. “Sure, I still like him. I probably always will, but I got over him a long time ago.”

“Oh,” Jason said. “That’s good. Really. But it still doesn’t mean…”

“Jason,” Nico interrupted him. “I’ve had a growing crush on you since Croatia. I’m honestly surprised you didn’t notice.”

“Well, it’s not like you were around much,” Jason said, smiling happily as he reached out to pull Nico closer to him. “So is it okay if I expect something then?”

Nico blushed. “Depends on what it is you’re expecting,” he mumbled. “I’m still injured, after all.”

“I’m kinda expecting kisses,” Jason smiled, leaning closer until their faces where only inches apart. Jason could feel Nico’s breath against his face.

“Kisses sound fine,” Nico whispered. Jason wasn’t sure which one of them made the decision to close the distance in the end. Maybe they both did at the same time. Their lips crashed together, awkwardly trying to get a feel for the other. Jason wanted nothing more than to pull Nico as close as possible, but Nico’s arm wouldn’t appreciate that. Nico hadn’t moved his healthy arm, despite eagerly kissing Jason back, all enthusiasm and no technique. Jason didn’t mind. In fact, the thought that this might be Nico’s first kiss made his stomach warm.

“So, um,” Nico said when they parted, looking a little dazed. “Do you want to stay here tonight?”

“I’ll stay for as long as you want me to,” Jason smiled, gently putting his arms around the younger boy.

Nico relaxed into the embrace, resting his head on Jason’s shoulder. “I might want you to stay forever,” he said, and Jason chuckled softly.

“I’m fine with that.”


End file.
